Nigeria Times

By He Yin, People’s Daily

China has raised a series of far-reaching initiatives and visions over the recent years, bringing new inspirations, vitality and hopes to the world that has entered a period of new turbulence and transformation.

These initiatives and visions have triggered broad attention and received active responses and wide support from the international society.

Some said that major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics has provided a new worldview featuring holistic thinking, global mindset and humanity.

Some said that China, opposing the law-of-the-jungle mentality, all forms of power politics and hegemony, and zero-sum games, has paved a new path of win-win development.

Since the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress in 2012, facing the turbulent international situation, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has put forward a series of new ideas, new propositions and new initiatives with Chinese characteristics, which grasp the pulse of the call of our times and lead the trend of human progress. They are what constitute Xi Jinping Thought on Socialist Diplomacy with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, or Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy for short.

As an important part of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy has given clear answers to a series of key questions in theory and practice, namely, what kind of world and what type of international relations China should promote; what kind of foreign policy best serves China, and how China is to conduct diplomacy in the new era.

The Thought provides the fundamental philosophy and guide to action for China’s diplomacy in the new era, contributes China’s wisdom and proposals to solving major global problems, and builds consensus and pools strengths for promoting human development and progress.

Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy shows a profound understanding of historical rules and the trend of the times.

It charts the course for advancing major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics. It follows historical and dialectical materialism, adopts a right approach to history, to the overall picture and to China’s role, and reveals the innate laws of human progress amid international vicissitudes.

Facing the changes of the world, of our times and of history, China has drawn a series of important conclusions, including that the world is undergoing changes unseen in a century and has entered a period of new turbulence and transformation.

As China’s relationship with the rest of the world is changing, the country has had a science-based analysis of the changing external environment. China is still in an important period of strategic opportunity for development, but there are new changes in the opportunities and challenges the country faces. Opportunities are more strategic and malleable, while challenges are more complex and overarching

These strategies provided the solid theoretical basis for developing major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics. They created a broad space for combining the interests of the Chinese people with the common interests of the people in the rest of the world, and for promoting China’s development while advancing China’s interaction and win-win cooperation with other countries.

Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy bears in mind global development and steers the trends of the times.

Guided by the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, China maintains peaceful cooperation in the new era, stays committed to a development path with Chinese characteristics, and opposes the beaten track of big powers in seeking hegemony.

China works actively to build a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, equity, justice and win-win cooperation, blazing a new trail in relations between countries and fostering a global network of partnerships.

China has always advocated peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom, which are the common values of humanity, which is beyond the historical limitations of the so-called universal values.

The country put forward the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), advocates extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and guides the reform of the global governance system with equity and justice. It abandons the outdated zero-sum games and the “winner takes all” approach.

Given the sudden outbreak of COVID-19, geopolitical conflicts with global impacts and other challenges that have emerged in recent years, only by building a community with a shared future for mankind can the international society respond to current changes and promote historical progress.

Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy upholds justice and makes clear the missions of major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics.

China in the new era steadfastly calls for solidarity over division, inclusiveness over exclusiveness, win-win cooperation over monopoly, cooperation over confrontation, and stability over conflicts.

China follows true multilateralism and promotes democracy in international relations. It has set a good example of solidarity against the COVID-19 pandemic and is taking concrete actions to build a community of common health for mankind.

The country proposed the Global Development Initiative (GDI) and the Global Security Initiative (GSI), and is working to foster a global community of development with a shared future and a global community of security for all.

It firmly moves forward in tandem with all progressive forces around the world and takes concrete actions to add stability and certainty to this volatile world. It is widely believed around the world that China is a key force safeguarding world peace and has made important contributions to maintaining international equity and justice.

Under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy, major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics follows the leadership of the CPC and the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. China has broken new ground in its diplomatic endeavors amid profound global changes and turned crises into opportunities amid complex situations on the international stage, making comprehensive and historic achievements.

China’s visions and schemes offer prompt answers to the questions of the times and are guiding the profound changes unseen in a century to turn toward a direction that’s conducive to human progress.

The vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind has been included in multiple international documents such as UN resolutions; 149 countries and 32 international organizations have joined the BRI; the GDI has been responded by more than 100 countries and international organizations including the UN; Over 70 countries have expressed their support for the GSI.

At this critical juncture of historical development, China firmly stands on the right side of history and the progressive side of mankind, holding high the banner of peace, development, cooperation and win-win cooperation, so as to make contributions to world peace and development.

While pursuing happiness for the Chinese people and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, the CPC has also contributed to human progress and world harmony.

Embarking on a new journey, major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics will keep following Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy, implement the national rejuvenation strategy within a wider context of the once-in-a-century changes taking place in the world, and make even greater contributions to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

By He Yin, People’s Daily

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2012, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics has made vigorous and determined endeavors and achieved comprehensive and historic progress.

The vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind serves as a great banner pointing the way forward for our times and humanity; high-quality construction of the Belt and Road injects important impetus into the development of participating countries; the Global Development Initiative guides the international society to revitalize global development; and the Global Security Initiative provides comprehensive schemes for the world to cope with international security challenges.

China in the new era always considers its own growth in the context of the common development of all humanity and binds the interests of its people to the common interests of all peoples across the world. It firmly stands on the right side of history and the progressive side of mankind. Following a path of peace and development, the country is benefiting the world and winning support from the people.

The greatness of a cause lies not only in that it is just and massive, but that it is not smooth sailing. An important reason for China’s having made remarkable achievements in diplomacy in the new era is that it has played an important role in guiding the international community to tide over difficulties and jointly move forward in the changing world.

Over the past 10 years, the world has been faced with a grave and complex international situation and unprecedented external risks and challenges. The international balance of power is undergoing profound adjustments; unilateralism, protectionism, hegemonism, and power politics are posing greater threats to world peace and development; the backlash against globalization is growing. The world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation.

At the critical historical juncture, China is facing up to challenges. It champions opening up over isolation, pursues mutual benefit instead of zero-sum games, and stands up for fairness and justice. It always injects positive energy into the promotion of world peace and development.

Proposing the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, China in the new era is leading the international society to grasp the trend of history and pave a path that leads to bright prospects.

The vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind complies with the fact that the interlinking and interdependence between countries is more frequent and intimate than ever before, charting the course for the world that is currently at a crossroads.

Since the vision was put forward, China has constantly enriched its connotation. The country is committed to building a new type of international relations based on mutual respect, equity, justice and win-win cooperation, as well as an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security, and common prosperity. China’s proposal to build a community with a shared future in multiple fieldshas expanded international consensus on the major vision and played a larger role in promoting human progress.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres once said that the purpose of practicing multilateralism is to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

China in the new era actively puts into practice the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind. It is maintaining world peace and development with concrete actions, steering the world toward a brighter future.

Actions are important to build a community with a shared future for mankind. Over the past 10 years, China has actively participated in the reform and development of the global governance system. It has worked to safeguard the international system centered on the UN, the international order underpinned by international law, and the basic norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. China has upheld and practiced true multilateralism, and worked actively to make economic globalization more open, inclusive, balanced, and beneficial for all.

China has played a constructive role in the political resolution of regional and international hotspot issues, and it has been a positive force on issues such as climate change, poverty reduction, counterterrorism, cyber security, and regional security. In combating COVID-19, China has engaged in international cooperation and launched the largest global emergency humanitarian operation since the founding of the People’s Republic, providing supplies, medical support, and vaccine assistance for many countries, especially developing countries, and engaging in vaccine cooperation with a number of them.

Today, the country is more and more recognized as a promoter of world peace, contributor to global development, and upholder of the international order. The international society believes that China’s development is a great cause that promotes human progress.

“Our world is full of both hope and challenges. We should not give up on our dreams because the reality around us is too complicated; we should not stop pursuing our ideals because they seem out of our reach,” said general secretary Xi Jinping of the CPC Central Committee.

Currently, the impacts of major changes and a pandemic unseen in a century are being combined, and factors of instability, uncertainty and insecurity are increasing in the international situation. Despite it, peace and development remain the unchanging theme of the times, the aspiration of people across countries for a better life remains unchanged, and the historical mission for the international community to pursue solidarity and win-win cooperation remains unchanged.

On the new journey, China will keep working with the international society to build great synergy through win-win cooperation, overcome the various challenges along the way, and march toward the goal of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

The China General Chambers of Commerce In Nigeria has debunked the trending news on social media that it has endorsed a presidential candidate as purportedly claimed by one by Mr Hong Jung, claiming to be the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Chamber.

The Chamber, in a statement it issued on October 4, stated that the refutal became expedient in order to avoid any form of misunderstanding between the Chinese and Nigerian people, adding that “the Chinese Mr Hong
Jung who appears in the above social media post is not the CEO of the China General Chamber of Commerce in Nigeria, and he does not have the authority to speak for the Chamber and therefore all his actions and statements are his own personal opinions.”

The statement said: “The name of the Chamber is the China General Chamber of Commerce in Nigeria. Since its official establishment in Nigeria in July 2011, the Chamber has been committed to serving Chinese and Nigerian enterprises, promoting China-Nigeria economic and trade cooperation, and promoting economic and cultural exchanges between the two countries.

“The Chamber is a non-profit organisation that never participates in political activities. Over the years the Chamber of Commerce has been highly appreciated and supported by people from all walks of life in China and Nigeria, and has developed into a bond of economic and trade cooperation between China and Nigeria and has served as a bridge of friendship between China and Nigeria.

“The China General Chamber of Commerce in Nigeria will continue to assist Chinese and Nigerian enterprises, strengthen cooperation, forge a closer China-Nigeria community of shared future, and help China-Nigeria relations achieve higher-quality development.”

By Li Rui, People’s Daily

Wicker weaving, a Chinese national intangible cultural heritage, has been well developed into an industry in Boxing county, Binzhou, east China’s Shandong province, contributing to rural vitalization.

The online sales of wicker products reported by the county’s Wantou village alone reached 460 million yuan ($63.92 million) in 2020. Over 10,000 people were directly engaged in the business, and the business also created more than 60,000 relevant jobs for residents from surrounding villages.

In 2021, Wantou was honored as a “million-yuan village” by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, which meant its collective income from the featured business notched up 1 million yuan.

Boxing County made its name as a major base of wicker production. Its history of wicker weaving dates back more than 800 years ago. Wicker weaving has long been a traditional industry in the county.

Wicker products made in the county are soft, economical and environmentally friendly. They carry distinctive local features and styles, and the technique was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in May 2011.

In recent years, a group of craftspeople in the county have worked to improve wicker weaving skills and make their products more innovative. As a result, the old craft has taken on a new look.

For instance, craftsman JiaLiuyuan from Boxing weaved over 10,000 burr puzzles with wicker and made them into a huge lantern as tall as a person. Later, the septuagenarian made a series of delicate handicrafts using wicker, such as weaved tigers, pavilions and ancient structures.

Wicker weaving is not only used to make handicrafts. It is also employed in construction. The Spanish Pavilion at the World Expo 2010 held in Shanghai was an example. It had a wicker facade over a steel structure, which made it look like waves from a distance and a basket from above.

This huge “basket” was weaved by Sun Jianguang from Chongde village, Boxing County, with numerous slices of wicker in 2009. The precision was controlled at a millimeter level, and the work went through 10 procedures such as antiseptic treatment, drying and shaping.

Instead of employing traditional techniques, Sun developed new ones and tackled a series of challenges in anticorrosion and fireproofing. The whole project took Sun and his team three months and consumed 120 tons of wicker.

When the facade was completed, Sun said their efforts were worthwhile because they presented wicker weaving to the world.

After the World Expo 2010 concluded, Sun kept digging into wicker weaving skills for green and innovative construction. He used his new techniques in B&B buildings, festive archways and sculptures in scenic areas.

“I must keep innovating to instill more cultural connotation in architecture and revitalize the culture of wicker weaving,” Sun said.

Apart from making innovations in wicker products, craftspeople in Boxing County have also expanded the promotion and sales channels of their products through e-commerce. Villagers are now selling their products via online shops and livestream platforms, which also helps expand the influence of the traditional skill.

Over recent years, Boxing County has built a grass and wicker weaving-themed industrial park and inked cooperative agreements with universities and colleges to jointly develop featured wicker products.

The industrial park is listed as an internship base for university students, where senior craftspeople would give lectures to students.

It is also a complex that works as both an exhibition area and a processing base, and gathers a number of e-commerce companies and express service centers. Generating creative ideas, it is injecting new impetus into the development of the wicker weaving industry.

By Wang Wenzheng

The Chinese retail sector, especially the supermarket business, has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic since early 2020.

However, convenience stores bucked the trend.

The sales of Chinese convenience stores have maintained a rapid growth of more than 10 percent for three consecutive years, according to a recent report jointly released by the China Chain Store and Franchise Association and KPMG.

Total convenience stores sales in Chinawere 349.2 billion yuan ($48.5 billion) in 2021, up 17.7 percent year on year, the report said.

Compared with bigger-sized supermarkets and department stores, convenience stores feature longer operation hours and a high degree of automation. They are very popular in densely-populated megacities where large numbers of business districts and office buildings are constructed.

What’s more, with better services, lower prices and more diversified commodities, convenience stores are winning more shares today in lower-tier markets.

They have played a critical role in the supply of consumer goods since the outbreak of COVID-19, thanks to their wide distribution and mature supply chain. The report said consumers prefer brick-and-mortar retailers that are close to them and less crowded due to the pandemic, and that’s why convenience stores have come into favor.

Besides, convenience stores also enjoy many advantages in the new retail model of one-click ordering. They are able to deliver food, beverages, fruits and vegetables, groceries, as well as medicines to the doorsteps of consumers within an hour through third-party deliverers or their own logistics systems.

According to statistics, in the first seven months of this year, convenience stores saw a year-on-year growth of 39 percent in orders on Meituan, a Chinese shopping platform for locally found consumer products and retail services. One-click ordering has become a new choice for consumers.

With fast delivery, diverse commodities and high distribution density, more and more convenience stores are employing one-click ordering to seek integrated online-offline development.

The report showed that 88 percent of convenience stores in China launched online services last year, up from 29 percent in 2016. Over 70 percent of them launched online services in cooperation with a third party, according to the report.

In May last year, the Ministry of Commerce said the country would build 15-minute community life circles and introduce more convenience stores into neighborhoods. It also encouraged major enterprises to give a boost to the sector in terms of branding, standard-setting, management and services. It also stated that major enterprises shouldcooperate with local governments and communities to further integrate themselves into urban public services.

Beijing is seeing an accelerated and integrated development of consumer services. According to an official with the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau, the Chinese capital had over 90,000 providers of consumer services at the end of last year, including convenience stores and barbershops. They covered almost all communities in Beijing.

In Nanjing, east China’s Jiangsu province, large numbers of charging poles, convenience stores and wet markets have been built, which not only smooths the “micro cycle” of the urban economy, but also facilitates the life of the citizens.

Insiders believe that convenience stores, seeking high-quality development, will go beyond the scenarios of traditional retailing and become a “generalist” in consumer services.

By Wu Yuehui, People’s Daily

The Mars rover Zhurong of China’s first Mars exploration mission, Tianwen-1, touched down at its pre-selected landing area in Utopia Planitia, a vast Martian plain, and started its work on May 15, 2021.

Utopia Planitia, the largest recognized impact basin on Mars, might have been an ocean in the past, which suggests that the red planet could once have had a habitable environment.

A joint study was carried out by the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the National Space Science Center of the CAS and Peking University based on data sent back by Zhurong.

According to the study, which was published on Nature on Sept. 26, there are two fining-upwards sequences under the Martian regolith at Zhurong’s landing area, which might reveal substantial geological events happening as early as 3.5 to 3.2 billion years ago.

Researchers found no direct evidence for the existence of liquid water within the radar detection depth range, but the presence of saline ice cannot be ruled out.

Detailed information about Mars’ underground structure and physical property is an important foundation for the study of Martian geology and environmental changes. It is an important part of Mars exploration.

Chen Ling, a researcher at the CAS Institute of Geology and Geophysics, noted that Zhurong is equipped with a ground-penetrating radar that is able to construct detailed and high-resolution subsurface image profiles, which helps mankind obtain a deeper understanding of Utopia Planitia’s evolution, the distribution of underground water and ice, and other key scientific issues about the red planet.

The ground-penetrating radar on Zhurong is the first one of its kind to carry out a mission in Utopia Planitia.

So far, four in-situ ground-penetrating radar surveys have been launched on extraterrestrial planets. In particular, China’s Chang’e-3 and Chang’e-4 probes detected the shallow subsurface structure of the near and far sides of the Moon, and the U.S. Perseverance and China’s Zhurong completed their missions on Mars last year. Perseverance surveyed the edge of the Jezero crater as deep as 15 meters, and Zhurong explored 80 meters beneath the subsurface in the southern part of Utopia Planitia.

The Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center unveiled exploration data obtained by Tianwen-1, which offered solid data support for Martian studies. Scientists constructed a detailed, high-precision subsurface structure image profile based on radar data collected by the Zhurong rover in its first 113 Martian days along the roughly 1,171-meter traverse of the rover.

Speaking of the two fining-upwards sequences, Chen told People’s Daily that the first one, extending from 10 to 30 meters, is shown to contain rocky blocks, presumably having taken shape in approximately the past 1.6 billion years, and their clast sizes increase with depth.

The second one, within the depth range of 30 to 80 meters, is composed of larger rocky blocks, representing an older, probably more substantial geological event happening as early as 3.5 to 3.2 billion years ago, Chen noted, adding that it may be shaped by major flooding that took place in the southern part of Utopia Planitia.

Apart from the detection of Mars’ underground structure and physical property, another major target of Zhurong is to see whether there is water or ice buried deep under the Martian subsurface in the southern part of Utopia Planitia.

According to radar imaging, liquid water was not detected up to 80 meters underground, and a thermal simulation suggested that the Martian soil 100 meters deep could not stably contain liquid water, nor sulfate or carbonate brines, although the presence of saline ice cannot be ruled out.

The finding this time is an original outcome generated by data obtained by Tianwen-1’s first Mars exploration mission. It revealed the detailed structure and physical property of the shallow subsurface in the landing area of the Zhurong rover, provided new evidence suggesting the presence of liquid water activity on Mars, and offered significant clues to a closer understanding of the geological evolution, and the environmental and climate changes on Mars.

By Shi Ziqiang, People’s Daily

Pride is always shown on the face of Fang Zhihong when it comes to the topic of Olympics, because the schools in Jingxiu district, Baoding, north China’s Hebei province, where Fang serves as the head of the local education and sports bureau, have nurtured 12 Olympic and world champions, 14 Asian champions, 23 top athletes at state level and over 150 first-class athletes at state level.

Tian’e Primary School is the first school in Jingxiu district that owns a standard 200-meter patinodrome. According to principal Cui Hongyu, roller skating has been listed as a school-based curriculum since 2008, and six years later, the school started cooperating with a local roller skating club. In 2016, the school was named the roller skating training center of Baoding.

“Students can receive professional training from the club, and our school also established roller speed staking and skating societies for amateurs, which provide regular training courses,” Cui introduced.

Since 2018, the school has established a “featured class” of roller skating for first graders that offers professional training courses, and it has supplied over 40 skaters for the roller skating team of Baoding over the recent couple of years.

The sports-education integration of Jingxiu district started with the “featured classes,” developed because of the establishment of sports-themed schools, and flourished thanks to school-sports club cooperation, said GuoLiying, deputy head of Jingxiu district’s education and sports bureau.

According to Guo, 24 out of the district’s 30 kindergartens, primary and secondary schools have established partnerships with 40 commercial sports clubs.

So far, Jingxiu district has established a sports training system that involves students in primary, secondary and high schools, which enables students at all ages to join sports training and makes the training more systematic and science-based.

Early this fall semester, a swimming contest was launched for the students of Class 3, Grade 2 at Lekai Primary School in Jingxiu district. Eight participants stood out from the crowd after two rounds of competitions. They will join the school swimming championship to be held this October on behalf of their class.

Ma Fuping, principal of the primary school told People’s Daily that classes of the school hold sports contests every week, and the winners will be able to join higher-level games.

“For instance, third grader Hu Jinni has made it to the provincial youth swimming championship held this August and ranked first in the U9 4×50 meters freestyle relay heat,” Ma said. Currently, the girl is preparing for the finals in Hengshui, another city of Hebei.

To promote youth sports, Jingxiu district has established a well-organized system of sports events on the basis of respecting students’ individual wills and development.

“Regular games make students eager for competition and help them make training plans for themselves,” Guo said. It is with such a mechanism that outstanding athletes are developed, Guo added.

Li Bingjie, gold medalist of swimming at the Tokyo Olympic Games, was a student of Xinshichang Primary School in Jingxiu district, and it was her great performance in school swimming competitions that earned her the opportunity to join the Hebei provincial swimming team and the Chinese national swimming team, according to Guo.

Fang told People’s Daily that the district is cooperating with the municipal sports bureau and associations to hold youth sports events, and teaming up with the provincial sports bureau to host provincial games and those for the entire Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Besides, it also works with the General Administration of Sports, the Federation of University Sports of China and national sports associations to organize state-level sports events.

Since this year, Jingxiu district has held three national events, two provincial events, one municipal events and two district events. These sports events have established a fantastic platform for sports-loving students, and offered them more opportunities for their future careers.

By Lu Ya’nan, People’s Daily

The Hangzhou West Railway Station, in the capital of China’s Zhejiang province, was recently put into operation.

Photovoltaic panels covering 15,000 square meters have been on the station roof, which are expected to generate 2.31 million kilowatt-hours of green power and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 2,300 tons every year.

Sunlight shines on the train station through a gigantic cross-shaped skylight and light-transmitting shading film, and the light intensity in the station is automatically adjusted according to the passenger flow and weather changes by a smart indoor lighting system.

Besides, the roof of the station is covered by heat-resistant films that help block the heat and reduce the energy consumption of air conditioning.

“The station is constructed under the guidance of the green and low-carbon development philosophy. It is rated as a top-level green structure in China,” said Du Liqiang from China Railway Construction Engineering Group, the company that managed the station construction,

At the general debate of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, China announced that it would scale up its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions by adopting more vigorous policies and measures. The country aims to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

“Over the past two years, local governments and relevant departments have made concrete efforts, getting off to a solid start on its way to achieve the ‘dual carbon’ goals,” Liu Dechun, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission, told People’s Daily.

It’s proved that China has achieved remarkable progress in the green and low-carbon transition of energy.

As a major consumer of coal, China vigorously promoted the upgrading of coal consumption. It accelerated energy-saving upgrades and advanced retrofits in coal-fueled heating facilities, upgrading 240 million kilowatts of capacity in 2021. Another 220 million kilowatts of capacity is expected to be upgraded this year.

China plans to build 450 million kilowatts of solar and wind power generation capacity on the Gobi and other desert regions. By 2020, the newly added wind and solar power capacity in the country has exceeded 100 million kilowatts each year, and the figure stands at 20 million kilowatts in the realm of hydropower capacity. Last year, the country’s new energy power generation output crossed the one trillion kilowatt-hours mark for the first time.

The country is seeing a higher ratio of green buildings.

It has accelerated the transformation of urban and rural construction, operation and management models, actively promoted green structures and advanced low-carbon upgrading for existing buildings in accordance with urban renewal progress.

As of the end of 2020, the country had completed energy-saving renovation of existing buildings covering a total area of 1.5 billion square meters, and the coverage of newly-built green structures accounted for 84 percent of all the newly constructed buildings last year.

Low-carbon transport is becoming trendy in China.

Last year, China manufactured and sold over 3.5 million new energy vehicles (NEVs), ranking first in the world for seven consecutive years. The monthly market penetration rate of NEVs in August this year was 30 percent, up from 2.4 percent in early 2020.

In 2021, all the shipping bills of express parcels have turned electric, and the utilization rate of recyclable transit bags has neared 100 percent. A total of 6.3 million recyclable express delivery boxes were put into use, and 80.5 percent of e-commerce parcels avoided excessive packages.

China has vigorously promoted carbon-reduction and energy-saving upgrading in iron, nonferrous metals, petrochemical and construction material industries. Last year, crude steel production in China dropped nearly 30 million tons from a year ago.

Besides, the country has also made huge efforts to develop strategic emerging industries, eying on new technologies and businesses. The proportion of high-tech manufacturing in the added value of industries above the designated size reached 15.1 percent in 2021, and energy consumption and CO2 emission per unit of GDP decreased by 2.7 percent and 3.8 percent from a year ago in the same period.

Last year, China planted 54 million mu (36,000 square kilometers) of trees, improved 46 million mu of grassland, and nurtured 34.67 million mu of forests. Besides, it also restored 14 million mu of degraded forests, and built and restored 1.09 million mu of wetlands.

In 2021, the country’s forest coverage reached 24.02 percent, with a forest stock volume of 19.49 billion cubic meters. Its grassland vegetation coverage stood at 50.32 percent, and the wetland protection rate reached 52.65 percent.

China has realized the largest growth in forest resources among all countries in the world.

By He Yin, People’s Daily

Global development was a topic receiving high attention at the general debate of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly that concluded at the UN headquarters in New York on Sept. 26.

According to a recent report by the UN Development Program, over 90 percent of countries endured a decline on the Human Development Index in 2020 or 2021, while over 40 percent declined in both years. Human development has fallen back to 2016 levels globally.

All parties are expecting a renewal of global development.

The Global Development Initiative (GDI) proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping last September bears great expectations.

China recently held the Ministerial Meeting of the Group of Friends of the GDI in New York. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressed the meeting via video link, and the meeting was attended by nearly 40 foreign ministers and heads of international agencies.

All participants believed that the GDI is of great importance to boosting international development cooperation and helping implement the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and it will serve as a catalyst for developing countries, small and medium-sized countries in particular, to accelerate development.

The GDI, aiming at building a community with a shared future for global development, gives priority to development and puts people at the center. It helps promote common development of the world and enhance people’s wellbeing.

As global development enters a critical stage, the GDI guides countries to focus on key areas, offers more forceful and targeted support for developing countries, and seeks to expedite the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

China not only presented the GDI but also carried out the initiative with real actions. In June this year, Xi chaired the High-level Dialogue on Global Development, announced China’s 32 important measures to implement the GDI and helped bring development back to the center of the international agenda together with leaders of other countries, staying committed to forging a united, equal, balanced and inclusive global development partnership.

At the Ministerial Meeting of the Group of Friends of the GDI, China said it is willing to strengthen strategic synergy with UN development agencies and work with members of the Group of Friends to take seven additional measures to implement the 2030 Agenda. It once again demonstrated China’s major country responsibility in being action-oriented and promoting the implementation of the initiative.

China presented to the UN six sets of data products for global sustainable development, including data products on global arable land and forest, so as to provide data support for all countries to better achieve food security, ecological conservation on land, and other sustainable development goals.

The GDI enjoys a bright future because it adheres to multilateralism and builds synergy for global development. To realize sustained global development, the international society must work as one. More than 100 countries and international organizations, including the UN, have supported the GDI, and more than 60 countries have joined the Group of Friends of the GDI.

China has worked actively with relevant parties to implement the 32 pragmatic measures and has achieved multiple early fruits. Institutions from 17 countries and regions became the first to join the International NGOs Network for Poverty Reduction Cooperation. One hundred and fifty institutions from nearly 40 countries and regions are making joint preparations to establish a World Technical Vocational and Education Training League. China has engaged in the co-production of COVID-19 vaccines with 13 countries.

China follows the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, forges greater synergy through coordination, and upholds inclusiveness and common progress. It is pooling collective wisdom and strength for the implementation of the GDI.

On the path of development, no country or individual should be left behind. This is the humble aspiration of the GDI and the goal advocated by the UN. China will continue to share development opportunities with all countries, stand with fellow developing countries, and make all-out efforts to advance the GDI. It will join hands with other countries on the journey of implementing the 2030 Agenda and build an even better community with a shared future for mankind.

By Gu Yekai, People’s Daily

The total number of China’s intellectual property rights (IPR) assistance service agencies has exceeded 1,300, said a recent report on the country’s IPR protection assistance progress in 2021.

More than 47,000 applications for IPR aid were handled across the country in 2021, and consulting services were offered about 41,000 times, according to the report issued by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA).

China has continuously enhanced its nationwide network of IPR protection support, making IPR aid services more targeted, convenient and available.

Zhan Ying, professor with Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, said IPR aid offers strong support for the effective operation of the country in administrative and judicial protection of IPR, as well as the construction of IPR credibility mechanisms.

In recent years, relevant local authorities across China have focused on new targets, fields and models of IPR protection assistance, taking micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises as a priority to guarantee their innovation environment.

For instance, IPR aid service stations at municipal and county levels in Mudanjiang, northeast China’s Heilongjiang province are offering professional services for a number of enterprises in promising fields such as equipment manufacturing, modern agriculture and winter sports & tourism industries.

Continuously enhancing IPR aid for micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises gives a very strong boost to the development of innovative enterprises, said Shan Xiaoguang, director of the Research Center of China-EU Innovation Policy and Law at Tongji University, and professor of Shanghai International College of Intellectual Property.

According to the CNIPA report, China’s IPR aid institutions accepted around 34,000 applications for IPR aid from micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises last year, and 18 provinces have precisely matched the demand for aid seekers through questionnaires, field investigations and other ways.

In the first half of this year, IPR protection centers in China completed about 16,000 IPR protection cases and 64,000 preliminary hearings of patent cases, the CNIPA said.

Shan told People’s Daily that many Chinese enterprises exploring the overseas market see an urgent need to raise their IPR risk awareness and enhance their capability in handling IPR disputes.

The CNIPA report said that last year, 24 provinces established service centers, as well as institutional repositories and expert databases to improve their response mechanisms for overseas IPR disputes, and 12 signed cooperation agreements and set up law and case libraries to enhance the sharing of resources on overseas IPR aid.

Besides, 26 provinces encouraged IPR aid institutions and experts to serve exhibitions, providing a total of 283 times of aid services for exhibitions, trade fairs, major sports events and innovation and entrepreneurship activities, up 9.3 percent year on year.

At present, the public and innovation entities are seeing stronger and more diversified demands for IPR protection. In 2021, the China Intellectual Property Rights Aid Network was visited 2.2 million times, 371.8 percent higher than a year ago. A total of 831 public seminars and training sessions on IPR were held across the country, with more than 298,000 participants.

In 2021, IPR authorities across the country handled 49,800 IPR disputes, and 4,800 cases of patent counterfeiting were dealt with by market supervisors at various levels. The numbers of invention patents and trademarks authorized to foreign applicants went up 23 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

In the recent ten years, the social satisfaction for IPR protection has been comprehensively improved. It was rated 80.61 out of 100 in 2021, 16.92 points higher than that in 2012.